The general idea behind this build is to focus on the idea of the Atmoran/Nordic Totems, and if your a fan of the idea, then I'd definitely check out Paul England's Nordic Totems series, but it will be pretty different from this.
My main source, for now, is simply going to be something Paws showed me the other day which peaked my interest. Urgh...feels like all my best ideas these days are Paws inspired. It was just a Little Article written up by Michael Kirkbride that goes into some basic details on the Nordic Totems. But I'll be going out for a bit more of a search sometime in the morning, just wanted to get the framework up.
He Who Carves Wood in the Shape of the Gods was a simple man with a simple craft, carving totems for the Atmoran Gods of old. These weren't magical totems or the puzzle-totems that protect the Halls of the Dead, no these were just simple totems, formed from Wood and made with Love. He made no money selling these, was no Master-Smith who created metal and most certainly not an Enchanter who formed Runes of Power. No, the Craftsmen was simple, and that was all ever wanted to be.
From the collapsed trunks of freshly fallen trees came the carvings of Tsun, Bear of the North. Tsun, the one who watches over the Bridge of Death, who tests those warriors who attempt to enter Sovengarde and become one of the many revellers who Shor looks over with a gaze of iron. Tsun is the Protector, who gave his life to protect the living and gave his death to protect the dead.
From the trees that had lost their leaves as winter came to the North, came the carvings for Shor, Fox-God of Men. The great leader of the North who was cruelly killed, broken apart and disgraced by the wicked Elves. But we of the North who still love Shor, honour his memory and his totems protect the True Sons (and Daughters) of the North.
The Totems of Hawk-Kyne, Wolf-Mara and Moth-Dibella were carved with the greatest of care from the most beautiful of trees. The types of trees that light up like fire or glitter in the sun, the types of trees that imbued only Love and Care in those who've seen them. Separate they were strong, blessing the young, the mothers and those who Shout to the Skies, but together they are the true protectors of the Daughters of the North.
For Orkey the Snake, the strangest of totems were carved. Created with the plan of never being finished and melded together with both newborn trees and those that had long passed. Because life and death are forever part of who we are, and to finish either, to tie off the ends would be to bring destruction where people can neither live nor die.
Herma-Mora, The Woodland Man has always been mistrusted (for good reason) and thus his totems were formed from trees as twisted as his words. However, the final result was still beautiful in its own way, for who else but Herma-Mora could imbue Knowledge, Wisdom and Brains in the heads of the Nords.
Alduin and Talos are not given Totems. For Alduin is a wicked being who deserves neither love nor remembrance, only fear. Talos simply has no need for a Totem, for he is in the heart of all Nords, and in their voice and in their blood. A Nord who has a totem of Talos is one who is weak, a man who needs to prove that Talos is with him, is weak.
Race: Nord
Standing Stone: The Tower, Serpent or Warrior
Skills: Speech
Shouts: Battle Fury, Call of Valour, Kyne's Peace, Animal Allegiance, Ice Form, Aura Whisper, Throw Voice, Storm Call and Dragonrend.
Equipment: Woodcutter's Axe, Nordic (or Steel) Dagger, any Light Armour or Clothing
Stats: 0 Magicka, 1 Health, and 1 Stamina.
-------------------------------
A simple man the Carver once was. He spent his days in a shack in the middle of the woods, leaving the safety of his home simply to sell his goods to the Nords that wanted to protect their homes with trinkets that would keep away evil spirits. Many believe that the man was once a Skaal Shaman, or some other mystic from across the seas. But nothing that interesting was true, he was simply a man who led a simple life, carving wood in ways that held true meaning only to a single person, himself. He never wanted to become a Hero, or to save the world, or even to save the lives of a single person. Call him selfish if you want, it's true, he never really cared what happens to others as long as he could live in peace and quiet.
That all changed when the Dragon Alduin came back to Skyrim. A single co-incidence that led to him being in Helgan on that faithful day, and suddenly 'Gromgir the Carver' became the man that would eventually become 'The Dragonborn'. Yes, he wasn't 'Gromgir the Dragonborn' for who cares about Gromgir as long as he was out there fighting dragons. But you know...he still carves his totems, still gives his own meaning to each one. And still lives life the way he wants.
For that is what makes Gromgir, Gromgir... He could save the world from a time-travelling Dragon and barely bat an eye, but his happiness was all but asured as long as he had a knife to carve, and wood to shape.
With Ordinator, all Shouts have the following effects. All of them will also heal Magicka/Health/Stamina based on the cooldown, and some will provide additional effects if they target enemies (so something like Fire Breath, Dragonrend, possibly Battle Fury)
- 30% extra damage
- 15% extra movement speed
- 25% chance to reduce the cooldown of any shout to 3 seconds
- Stagger enemies within 25 feet
- Reduce AR by by 300 points for 10 seconds
- Heal Magicka/Stamina/Health equal to the Cooldown of the Shout.
The Shout of Shor, some may consider it strange for it to be Battle Fury, the Shout that Helps Those who Follow, but to me what else is Shor but an inspiration for all Nords. With my voice, given power by the totem of Shor, I can spur my allies on to great feats that could help even the simplest reach the Throne of Shor in Sovengarde.
The Shout given to me by Tsun himself, the Call of Valor allows me to call upon the great Warriors of Old who fought Alduin and sent him forward for me to kill, and then even helped me by cutting the wings of the Time Dragon. They are worthy companions that I shall always cherish, and shall fight alongside until maybe...just maybe I end up with them in Sovengarde
Kyne's Peace is an interesting shout that allows me to calm down any animals that are nearby. It isn't as powerful as some of the other Shouts, but I think that Kyne would want me to calm down those who would share this land with me. Afterall, I can hardly say that Kyne is a godess who represents control or domination, nor is she truly a godess representing war or death. She is Kyne, Lady of the Storm
Dibella's Shout was a tough one for me to truly decide upon. Afterall, most Shouts are excellent at killing or calming but few are truly beautiful, none represent the only side of Dibella that I can truly connect with, her artistic nature, except for one. Ice Form, turning my enemies into statues of ice, even for a short time is something that I think she'd enjoy.
Animal Allegience...for the Mother of the North to lead her army, it feels only natural to me. Some may say that it works better for someone who's more associated with nature, but I think that the Mother is a natural leader, so why not use this Shout to represent her?
Orkey, God of Morality and one of the Testing Gods. He isn't a nice god, not like the Imperial Arkay who's all about purging Undead (a noble cause) but he is still important to recognize. With his Shout, I can understand the location of those who are in his cluthes (the Dead) and those who still fight against him (the Living) but all are trapped in his Cycle.
The other Testing God, Herma-Mora is a tricky one, who prays upon those who are mad, lost or alone. The Woodland Man is a tricky foe and with his Shout I can throw my voice to trick my enemies into following it instead of me. It matches him perfectly, tricky and sly but not all that strong for a Warrior to have at his back.
Storm Call is used to represent Alduin, because what else could be used to represent the most powerful Dragon that's ever existed. Who brings down meteors with a few words and can cause devastation to small cities with the same ease that a regular Dragon burns down a watchtower. He may be my enemy, but he is still a powerful god worthy of recognition if not respect.
Talos, the True Dragonborn, God of Men and overall hero of the Human Races. What better representation for him other than a Shout made by man, to free man? To me it's utterly perfect.
The build's fighting style can be broken into 'Pre-Shouts' and 'Super Dragonborn of Doom' modes. The first is pretty self explanatory, and is relatively simple. Hire a follower, the stronger the better and do everything you can to avoid getting hit for as long as possible. Personally I took the ole Axe and Shield combination that's so effective and combined Bashes with Unrelenting Force to keep enemies staggered as often as I could. Now I didn't really have enough Stamina to keep that going so I never felt like a badass warrior. Which is good, because remember Gromgir really isn't anything flash this early on, just a guy with an axe that knows how to smack it into things.
Now, 'Super Dragonborn of Doom' is where it gets interesting. The Shouts that you can let loose once you hit around Levels 10-15 are just phenomenal because they offer this character so much support, buffing and power that it really turns Gromgir from a worthless carver into a pretty powerful Warrior. Your still going to be relying primarily on Staggering, with Throw Voice (yes you read that correctly) being the most useful shout that this character has access to for combat. With the insanely short cooldown of 5 seconds, your always going to be able to use this in the middle of combat and when combined with Thu'um of War at 70 Speech, well you've got an excellent combination that allows you to stagger enemies constantly.
Call of Valor is another fairly useful shout that admiteddly doesn't get quite as much use as the rest. I didn't quite max out all the other Shouts, still had to get Battle Fury and the final word of Storm Call after getting Call of Valor, but it was still one of the later Shouts that I added to my arsenal. However, considering the low level of the character, its' actually a pretty useful Shout that just adds a bit more fighting potential to the team, and when you add in the fact that sometimes you can get a 3 second cooldown and then unleash Battle Fury...yeah that's a pretty powerful combination to say the least.
Closing Notes:
Eh, no fancy banner for the Closing Notes. So I've tried to do something a little bit different here, inspired by a few sources, but the idea of adding the words to each chunk was kind of inspired by AegarTheMountain and his Artificer Build, so I'd definitely recommend checking that out. He's a new builder with a really cool presentation style so far, very creative guy. Other then that, obviously have to give a nod to Noodles, who inspired the style I'm rolling with here and can't thank Paws (or Phil) for his support while this was in the Workshop, throwing around Lore and just generally being the only reason this build was started, let alone finished.
I'll be honest, this build was mostly about triyng out the Ordinator Speech tree (as my Perk Spread makes abundently clear) and just generally showing off what I think can be done with a simple bit of exploration there. It's also pretty heavy with RP and Lore elements, though not really focused on either to a massive degree. I guess really the art is sort of the main selling point here, not sure would love to hear what people think but compared to some other builds of mine it doesn't really have a lot of anything other than new art ideas.
Check out the Dragonborn1721 tag for more Dragonborn builds and...yeah that's it really, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment or like.
The general idea behind this build is to focus on the idea of the Atmoran/Nordic Totems, and if your a fan of the idea, then I'd definitely check out Paul England's Nordic Totems series, but it will be pretty different from this.
My main source, for now, is simply going to be something Paws showed me the other day which peaked my interest. Urgh...feels like all my best ideas these days are Paws inspired. It was just a Little Article written up by Michael Kirkbride that goes into some basic details on the Nordic Totems. But I'll be going out for a bit more of a search sometime in the morning, just wanted to get the framework up.
He Who Carves Wood in the Shape of the Gods was a simple man with a simple craft, carving totems for the Atmoran Gods of old. These weren't magical totems or the puzzle-totems that protect the Halls of the Dead, no these were just simple totems, formed from Wood and made with Love. He made no money selling these, was no Master-Smith who created metal and most certainly not an Enchanter who formed Runes of Power. No, the Craftsmen was simple, and that was all ever wanted to be.
From the collapsed trunks of freshly fallen trees came the carvings of Tsun, Bear of the North. Tsun, the one who watches over the Bridge of Death, who tests those warriors who attempt to enter Sovengarde and become one of the many revellers who Shor looks over with a gaze of iron. Tsun is the Protector, who gave his life to protect the living and gave his death to protect the dead.
From the trees that had lost their leaves as winter came to the North, came the carvings for Shor, Fox-God of Men. The great leader of the North who was cruelly killed, broken apart and disgraced by the wicked Elves. But we of the North who still love Shor, honour his memory and his totems protect the True Sons (and Daughters) of the North.
The Totems of Hawk-Kyne, Wolf-Mara and Moth-Dibella were carved with the greatest of care from the most beautiful of trees. The types of trees that light up like fire or glitter in the sun, the types of trees that imbued only Love and Care in those who've seen them. Separate they were strong, blessing the young, the mothers and those who Shout to the Skies, but together they are the true protectors of the Daughters of the North.
For Orkey the Snake, the strangest of totems were carved. Created with the plan of never being finished and melded together with both newborn trees and those that had long passed. Because life and death are forever part of who we are, and to finish either, to tie off the ends would be to bring destruction where people can neither live nor die.
Herma-Mora, The Woodland Man has always been mistrusted (for good reason) and thus his totems were formed from trees as twisted as his words. However, the final result was still beautiful in its own way, for who else but Herma-Mora could imbue Knowledge, Wisdom and Brains in the heads of the Nords.
Alduin and Talos are not given Totems. For Alduin is a wicked being who deserves neither love nor remembrance, only fear. Talos simply has no need for a Totem, for he is in the heart of all Nords, and in their voice and in their blood. A Nord who has a totem of Talos is one who is weak, a man who needs to prove that Talos is with him, is weak.
Race: Nord
Standing Stone: The Tower, Serpent or Warrior
Skills: Speech
Shouts: Battle Fury, Call of Valour, Kyne's Peace, Animal Allegiance, Ice Form, Aura Whisper, Throw Voice, Storm Call and Dragonrend.
Equipment: Woodcutter's Axe, Nordic (or Steel) Dagger, any Light Armour or Clothing
Stats: 0 Magicka, 1 Health, and 1 Stamina.
-------------------------------
A simple man the Carver once was. He spent his days in a shack in the middle of the woods, leaving the safety of his home simply to sell his goods to the Nords that wanted to protect their homes with trinkets that would keep away evil spirits. Many believe that the man was once a Skaal Shaman, or some other mystic from across the seas. But nothing that interesting was true, he was simply a man who led a simple life, carving wood in ways that held true meaning only to a single person, himself. He never wanted to become a Hero, or to save the world, or even to save the lives of a single person. Call him selfish if you want, it's true, he never really cared what happens to others as long as he could live in peace and quiet.
That all changed when the Dragon Alduin came back to Skyrim. A single co-incidence that led to him being in Helgan on that faithful day, and suddenly 'Gromgir the Carver' became the man that would eventually become 'The Dragonborn'. Yes, he wasn't 'Gromgir the Dragonborn' for who cares about Gromgir as long as he was out there fighting dragons. But you know...he still carves his totems, still gives his own meaning to each one. And still lives life the way he wants.
For that is what makes Gromgir, Gromgir... He could save the world from a time-travelling Dragon and barely bat an eye, but his happiness was all but asured as long as he had a knife to carve, and wood to shape.
With Ordinator, all Shouts have the following effects. All of them will also heal Magicka/Health/Stamina based on the cooldown, and some will provide additional effects if they target enemies (so something like Fire Breath, Dragonrend, possibly Battle Fury)
- 30% extra damage
- 15% extra movement speed
- 25% chance to reduce the cooldown of any shout to 3 seconds
- Stagger enemies within 25 feet
- Reduce AR by by 300 points for 10 seconds
- Heal Magicka/Stamina/Health equal to the Cooldown of the Shout.
The Shout of Shor, some may consider it strange for it to be Battle Fury, the Shout that Helps Those who Follow, but to me what else is Shor but an inspiration for all Nords. With my voice, given power by the totem of Shor, I can spur my allies on to great feats that could help even the simplest reach the Throne of Shor in Sovengarde.
The Shout given to me by Tsun himself, the Call of Valor allows me to call upon the great Warriors of Old who fought Alduin and sent him forward for me to kill, and then even helped me by cutting the wings of the Time Dragon. They are worthy companions that I shall always cherish, and shall fight alongside until maybe...just maybe I end up with them in Sovengarde
Kyne's Peace is an interesting shout that allows me to calm down any animals that are nearby. It isn't as powerful as some of the other Shouts, but I think that Kyne would want me to calm down those who would share this land with me. Afterall, I can hardly say that Kyne is a godess who represents control or domination, nor is she truly a godess representing war or death. She is Kyne, Lady of the Storm
Dibella's Shout was a tough one for me to truly decide upon. Afterall, most Shouts are excellent at killing or calming but few are truly beautiful, none represent the only side of Dibella that I can truly connect with, her artistic nature, except for one. Ice Form, turning my enemies into statues of ice, even for a short time is something that I think she'd enjoy.
Animal Allegience...for the Mother of the North to lead her army, it feels only natural to me. Some may say that it works better for someone who's more associated with nature, but I think that the Mother is a natural leader, so why not use this Shout to represent her?
Orkey, God of Morality and one of the Testing Gods. He isn't a nice god, not like the Imperial Arkay who's all about purging Undead (a noble cause) but he is still important to recognize. With his Shout, I can understand the location of those who are in his cluthes (the Dead) and those who still fight against him (the Living) but all are trapped in his Cycle.
The other Testing God, Herma-Mora is a tricky one, who prays upon those who are mad, lost or alone. The Woodland Man is a tricky foe and with his Shout I can throw my voice to trick my enemies into following it instead of me. It matches him perfectly, tricky and sly but not all that strong for a Warrior to have at his back.
Storm Call is used to represent Alduin, because what else could be used to represent the most powerful Dragon that's ever existed. Who brings down meteors with a few words and can cause devastation to small cities with the same ease that a regular Dragon burns down a watchtower. He may be my enemy, but he is still a powerful god worthy of recognition if not respect.
Talos, the True Dragonborn, God of Men and overall hero of the Human Races. What better representation for him other than a Shout made by man, to free man? To me it's utterly perfect.
The build's fighting style can be broken into 'Pre-Shouts' and 'Super Dragonborn of Doom' modes. The first is pretty self explanatory, and is relatively simple. Hire a follower, the stronger the better and do everything you can to avoid getting hit for as long as possible. Personally I took the ole Axe and Shield combination that's so effective and combined Bashes with Unrelenting Force to keep enemies staggered as often as I could. Now I didn't really have enough Stamina to keep that going so I never felt like a badass warrior. Which is good, because remember Gromgir really isn't anything flash this early on, just a guy with an axe that knows how to smack it into things.
Now, 'Super Dragonborn of Doom' is where it gets interesting. The Shouts that you can let loose once you hit around Levels 10-15 are just phenomenal because they offer this character so much support, buffing and power that it really turns Gromgir from a worthless carver into a pretty powerful Warrior. Your still going to be relying primarily on Staggering, with Throw Voice (yes you read that correctly) being the most useful shout that this character has access to for combat. With the insanely short cooldown of 5 seconds, your always going to be able to use this in the middle of combat and when combined with Thu'um of War at 70 Speech, well you've got an excellent combination that allows you to stagger enemies constantly.
Call of Valor is another fairly useful shout that admiteddly doesn't get quite as much use as the rest. I didn't quite max out all the other Shouts, still had to get Battle Fury and the final word of Storm Call after getting Call of Valor, but it was still one of the later Shouts that I added to my arsenal. However, considering the low level of the character, its' actually a pretty useful Shout that just adds a bit more fighting potential to the team, and when you add in the fact that sometimes you can get a 3 second cooldown and then unleash Battle Fury...yeah that's a pretty powerful combination to say the least.
Closing Notes:
Eh, no fancy banner for the Closing Notes. So I've tried to do something a little bit different here, inspired by a few sources, but the idea of adding the words to each chunk was kind of inspired by AegarTheMountain and his Artificer Build, so I'd definitely recommend checking that out. He's a new builder with a really cool presentation style so far, very creative guy. Other then that, obviously have to give a nod to Noodles, who inspired the style I'm rolling with here and can't thank Paws (or Phil) for his support while this was in the Workshop, throwing around Lore and just generally being the only reason this build was started, let alone finished.
I'll be honest, this build was mostly about triyng out the Ordinator Speech tree (as my Perk Spread makes abundently clear) and just generally showing off what I think can be done with a simple bit of exploration there. It's also pretty heavy with RP and Lore elements, though not really focused on either to a massive degree. I guess really the art is sort of the main selling point here, not sure would love to hear what people think but compared to some other builds of mine it doesn't really have a lot of anything other than new art ideas.
Check out the Dragonborn1721 tag for more Dragonborn builds and...yeah that's it really, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment or like.
